"And here are the boobies," Angeline said, hustling inside the (first-tier, plush-carpeted) dressing room with a pair of foam bust boosters known in the industry as "chicken cutlets," and plunging her hands into the corset area with the enthusiasm of a teenage boy.
The new technique, however, shows that the debris particle is low density foam, almost certainly from the solid rocket booster throat plug.
The investigators are inclined to explain that breach by pointing to foam debris that fell from the shuttle booster's external tank upon liftoff and hit somewhere in the area of the left wing.
In addition, it decreases electric energy consumption and simplifies the foam system with no need for extra boosters.
On Atlantis, he said, the chunk of flying foam hit a ring attaching the left solid rocket booster to the external tank.
The scientists began their analysis by studying how debris flying off the shuttle's external fuel tank and booster rockets -- including ice and hardened foam -- had damaged orbiter tiles during the shuttle's first 33 flights.
Most recently, a chunk of foam flew off the shuttle Atlantis and caused what officials described as minor damage to a solid rocket booster.
Open image in new window Fig. 1 Schematic of experimental apparatus for nitrogen foam injection, 1 nitrogen tank, 2 gas mass controller, 3 foam generator, 4 core holder, 5 back pressure valve, 6 hand booster pump, 7 atmospheric valve, 8 produced fluid metering system, 9 ISCO pump, 10 simulated water, 11 foaming solution, 12 oil, 13 heating oven.
The Challenger disintegrated upon liftoff in January 1986 because of a leaky booster rocket, and 17 years later, the Columbia broke up as it returned to Earth because of wing damage caused by falling insulating foam during liftoff.
